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<p class="publishdate"><span property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2015-03-16T00:00:00-04:00" class="date-display-single">March 16, 2015</span></p><div class='syndicate'><h1>Food Additives Alter Gut Microbes, Cause Diseases in Mice</h1><div class="callout callout-with-border"><h3>At a Glance</h3>
<ul class="spaced">
<li>Common food additives called emulsifiers promoted colitis and metabolic syndrome in mice by altering gut microbes.</li>
<li>The findings suggest that certain food additives might play a role in the increasing incidence of obesity and chronic inflammatory bowel disease.</li>
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<picture title="Mice fed emulsifiers">
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<img src="https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/styles/floated_media_breakpoint-medium/public/news-events/research-matters/2015/mice-fed-emulsifiers.jpg?itok=5ZrhFzmY&amp;timestamp=1430404848" alt="Mice fed emulsifiers had bacteria (red) deep in the mucus layer (green) so they were closer to intestinal cells (purple and blue) than they should be." title="Mice fed emulsifiers" />
</picture><span class="caption">Mice fed emulsifiers had bacteria (red) deep in the mucus layer (green) so they were closer to intestinal cells (purple and blue) than they should be.</span><span class="credit">Image by the researchers.</span></div>
</div><p>The digestive tract is home to 100 trillion bacteria. Collectively known as the gut microbiota, these bacteria help with metabolism and maintaining a healthy immune system. Changes in this microbial community can cause chronic diseases.</p>
<p>A thick layer of mucus separates gut bacteria from the lining of the intestine. A research team led by Dr. Andrew T. Gewirtz at Georgia State University wondered whether chemicals that disrupt this mucus barrier might alter the gut microbiota and play a role in disorders associated with inflammation, including inflammatory bowel disease and metabolic syndrome.</p>
<p>Dietary emulsifiers are added to many processed foods to improve texture and extend shelf life. Chemically similar to detergents, they have been shown to alter the mucus barrier and the microbes associated with it. To determine whether these might play a role in chronic diseases, the team fed mice low levels of 2 commonly used emulsifiers, carboxymethylcellulose or polysorbate-80, in drinking water or in food. The research was funded in part by NIHs National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Findings appeared in <em>Nature</em> on March 5, 2015.</p>
<p>Mice fed the emulsifiers for 12 weeks developed low-grade intestinal inflammation and metabolic syndrome — a group of conditions that increase the risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Mice that were genetically engineered to be more prone to inflammation and gut microbe changes developed colitis when fed the emulsifiers.</p>
<p>Mice that consumed the emulsifiers had an altered bacterial composition and thinner intestinal mucus, so that bacteria were closer to the cells lining the colon. The mice also had weight gain, increased food consumption, increased fat mass, and impaired glucose handling, a sign of metabolic syndrome.</p>
<p>When the team fed emulsifiers to germ-free mice, which dont have gut microbiota, the mice showed no signs of gut inflammation, mucus thinning, or metabolic syndrome. This suggests that the effects of the emulsifiers were most likely caused by altering gut bacteria.</p>
<p>When gut microbes from normal, emulsifier-fed mice were transplanted into germ-free mice that hadnt been fed emulsifiers, the mice developed low grade inflammation, increased fat mass, and glucose intolerance. These results showed that changes in the gut microbiota caused by dietary emulsifiers can drive inflammation and metabolic changes.</p>
<p>“We do not disagree with the commonly held assumption that over-eating is a central cause of obesity and metabolic syndrome,” Gewirtz says. But these results suggest that modern additions to the food supply can interact with gut microbiota to influence inflammation, metabolism, and weight.</p>
<p>The group is now testing additional emulsifiers. They are also designing experiments to examine the effects of food additives in humans.</p>
<p>—by Carol Torgan, Ph.D.</p>
</div><h2 class="label-above">Related Links</h2><ul class="spaced print-urls"><li><a href="https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/diet-affects-autoinflammatory-disease-gut-microbes" target="_top">Diet Affects Autoinflammatory Disease Via Gut Microbes</a></li><li><a href="https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/gut-microbes-diet-interact-affect-obesity" target="_top">Gut Microbes and Diet Interact to Affect Obesity</a></li><li><a href="https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/healthy-human-microbiome" target="_top">The Healthy Human Microbiome</a></li><li><a href="https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/issue/nov2012/feature1" target="_top">Your Microbes and You: The Good, Bad and Ugly</a></li><li><a href="http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-topics/digestive-diseases/crohns-disease/Pages/facts.aspx" target="_top">Crohns Disease:</a></li><li><a href="http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/ms" target="_top">Metabolic Syndrome</a></li></ul><p class="footnote"><strong class="label-inline">References:&nbsp;</strong><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25731162">Dietary emulsifiers impact the mouse gut microbiota promoting colitis and metabolic syndrome.</a> Chassaing B, Koren O, Goodrich JK, Poole AC, Srinivasan S, Ley RE, Gewirtz AT. <em>Nature</em>. 2015 Mar 5;519(7541):92-6. doi: 10.1038/nature14232. Epub 2015 Feb 25. PMID: 25731162.</p><p class="footnote"><strong class="label-inline">Funding:&nbsp;</strong>NIHs National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK); and Crohns and Colitis Foundation of America.</p>
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